“With all due respect
to Senator Lager, I cannot support a special session for several
reasons,” said Tilley. Tilley said a Special Session held during an
election year would invite grandstanding and filibustering.
He also pointed to the fact an extraordinary session would cost
taxpayers a minimum of $25,000 per day with a total bill to Missourians
approaching hundreds of thousands.

The House Speaker also
noted he is unaware of any action being taken by the Administration
between now and January that requires the legislature to act. “There is
nothing the legislature could do with a special
session that cannot wait until the legislature returns for regular
session," stated Tilley.

"I support Speaker
Tilley's decision,” agreed Majority Floor Leader Tim Jones, R-Eureka.
“The cost is too high and I believe there is nothing that can be
accomplished in a costly special session that cannot
be addressed by the November elections or the legislature in January."

“Finally, some people
may remember last fall, Sen. Lager negotiated a tax credit package with
House and Senate leaders, which included hundreds of millions of dollars
in new tax credits for the St. Louis China
Hub sporting events, numerous other credits and significant tax credit
reforms that would have saved the taxpayers over a billion dollars,”
said Tilley. “As a result, a special session was called by the governor
to address pro-jobs legislation and tax credit
reform. Sen. Lager ultimately opposed the package and the session
collapsed costing taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars.”

"Without assurances
that all sides would agree on the legislative proposals, Sen. Lager's
proposed special session would put hundreds of thousands of tax dollars
at risk and could ultimately result in another
costly special session with no results for the taxpayers," Tilley
added.

“I would suggest a
better, more immediate course of action is for him to join a lawsuit to
fix the biased language Secretary of State Robin Carnahan proposed. We
need fair and unbiased language so Missouri voters
will have the opportunity to determine if they want to require voter or
legislative approval to implement certain provisions of Obamacare
rather than leaving the decision to unelected bureaucrats," Tilley
said.

Tilley pointed out
much of how Obamacare will be implemented in Missouri depends on which
individuals fill the roles of governor, legislative leaders, and other
statewide officers. Tilley suggested that, after
hearing the voters speak, the newly elected legislature and state
office holders would have a clear mandate as to the direction the voters
have chosen.